The rapid digitalisation of retail banking has reshaped the way customers acquire financial knowledge and manage risk, making financial literacy both a product of technological change and a driver of safer financial behaviour. This study examines financial literacy as a mediating construct situated between two antecedents – digital transformation (DT) and cyber security awareness (CSA) – and three consequences – digital transaction behaviour (DTB), safe banking practices (SBP), and depositor confidence (DC). Survey data were collected from 200 retail banking customers using a 22-item, seven-point Likert questionnaire covering six constructs. Internal consistency was excellent to good for all constructs (Cronbach's alpha = 0.856–0.935), and sampling adequacy was confirmed (KMO = 0.876; Bartlett's test significant, p < .001). Multiple and simple linear regression showed that digital transformation (β = 0.229, p = .002) and cyber security awareness (β = 0.250, p < .001) jointly and significantly predicted financial literacy, explaining 16.9% of its variance. Financial literacy, in turn, significantly predicted digital transaction behaviour (β = 0.353), safe banking practices (β = 0.456), and depositor confidence (β = 0.276), with all five hypotheses supported (p < .001 to p = .002). Cyber security awareness showed the strongest bivariate association with depositor confidence (r = 0.657). These findings support an antecedent–consequence framework in which technological and security-related factors build financial literacy, which subsequently translates into safer digital banking conduct and stronger institutional trust. Implications for bank management, financial educators, and policymakers are discussed alongside study limitations and directions for future research.
